Dyson launch £1,000 Airblade Tap that washes and dries hands

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Dyson, the British engineering firm that revolutionised the vacuum cleaner, are now looking to overhaul the humble tap with the introduction of their new Airblade Tap system.

Costing £26.9 million to develop, the tap uses an infrared system to track the position of your hands before firing water at them from its central prons. Once you’re rinsed your hands free of soap, the tap then automatically switches over to its drying mode, using “high-velocity sheets of air” blasted from the two side prongs to completely dry your hands in 12 seconds.

Designed using similar concepts to the Dyson Airblade hand-dryer that you’ll find in pubs, restaurants and public places up and down the land, each Airblade Tap is fitted with a “digital motor” that uses a bonded magnet inclosed in a carbon fibre sleeve to rev the motor up to speeds of 90,000rpm in under a second. Each tap is also fitted with a HEPA filter, killing 99.9% of bacteria in the air blasted onto your hands before it reaches your mitts.While it’s probably the most advanced tap plumbing system in the world, your standard home taps have at two advantages over the new Dyson Airblade Tap.

Firstly, Dyson’s new gear can only pump out water at a fixed heat, one that is set during installation by an engineer.

Secondly, it’s unlikely that your taps at came with the same whopping £1,000 price tag that each Dyson Airblade Tap does. Indeed, you could probably make over your entire kitchen or bathroom for the money. As such, it’s likely still aimed more at upmarket restaurants or public amenities than home facilities, though anyone can pre-order the tap from today.

As well as the new Dyson Airblade Tap, Dyson have also launched a refreshed Dyson Airblade hand dryer, knocking off 1.1kg of its weight and reducing carbon emissions created during its manufacture by 60%, as well as a new smaller Airblade V hand drier, rounding off the trio of devices we were promised last week.